A Cuban, if he has, well, if he has a lot of money, he might earn maybe 40 euros a month, that means a glider, even a used glider, there's never any money for that.
Podz-Glidz, the Lu-Glidz podcast.
Stories from the cosmos of paragliding.
Today with Chris Ahnung and Lucian Haas on the mic. Cuba,
For many, it's somehow a mysterious place of longing. A Caribbean state with a pleasant climate, palms, white beaches, rum, and cigars, while simultaneously possessing the charm of a country that blends the joy of life with the dilapidated and precarious side of real socialism.
Surprisingly, paragliding is also practiced in Cuba, even though the vast majority of the population could never actually afford such an expensive hobby. The fact that this is possible is thanks to some friends and colleagues of the Cuban pilots, and to idealists abroad who repeatedly provide them with used but still airworthy equipment. One person who has taken on the role of development aid for the Cuban paragliding scene is Chris Ahnung from Karlsruhe. Chris has been traveling to Cuba regularly since the late 1990s. When he learned paragliding in 2004, he took his glider to the island right away to explore the flying opportunities there. This is how he came into contact with local pilots and learned about their needs.
Chris subsequently started an appeal on the German paragliding and hang gliding forum, asking other pilots for old equipment as a donation for Cuba. This initiative continues to this day. Over the past 15 years, Chris has brought several hundred gliders, harnesses, wheels, helmets, and flight instruments into the country to distribute among his Cuban friends. In this 16th episode of Podz-Glidz, Chris Ahnung doesn't just report on this project. He also talks about, among other things, the travel and flight opportunities for paragliding tourists in Cuba. He gives tips on what to look out for during a visit and describes the special atmosphere among the Cuban paragliding pilots, who rely on great solidarity with one another to pursue their hobby.
Chris, you've been traveling to Cuba for years now and always have used paraglider equipment in your luggage. How many gliders have actually made it to the country through you by now? Wow, good question.
The pilots from the Alpine region, Germany, and the German-speaking area have been very generous over the years. I can't put it into numbers, but I feel like it's at least 300 paragliders that have come there through me alone.
Are you actually something like development aid for the Cuban paraglider scene?
So I think I've contributed a good chunk, or have always contributed a good chunk, to things moving forward there. That's probably true.
How did that actually happen? I mean, where did your interest in Cuba come from, since you also mentioned that you go there all the time?
Well, at some point my enthusiasm for aviation led me to get a pilot's license. It was all a bit difficult at first. It started with kites, and that was all so complicated for me. So I got into it when paragliders were around and paragliders were also available in a certain performance range. And that was around 2004, when I got my license. And I already flew to Cuba regularly because the island is simply fascinating.
Then I looked into where one gets that fascination. How you can combine Cuba and the hobby of paragliding on the island. And I quickly got in touch with Cuban
pilots. That means you've already traveled to Cuba or flown there at some point. You couldn't do any paragliding back then. Right, that's what
I started in 1998. It was sort of the idea of seeing what living socialism looks like. And the Caribbean is, of course, somehow interesting to me as a destination as
European. Had you already seen someone paragliding in Cuba back then, even before you knew about it? Or did the idea only come to you when you said, I can paraglide myself now. Now I'm taking the paraglider to Cuba too.
So, of course, I already looked online. Are there any points of contact? Is there anything at all? Are there any flights that have been published? Are there pictures? Are there reports? But yeah, it was a bit of a wasteland back then. You couldn't find any information about Cuba on the internet in terms of paragliding.
Does that mean you were basically a paragliding pioneer in that country back then? Or was there already some hidden Cuban pilot somewhere that you just didn't know about at the time?
Yes, the roots were more in Spain. There were contacts with skydivers. And these skydivers had, of course, already started paragliding to some extent. And these Spanish colleagues then brought their enthusiasm for paragliding to Cuba with their parachutes. And they basically initiated the whole thing there. At first, there was only one paraglider at the university in Havana. A circle of friends. And that then spread across the whole island. This news that you can not only skydive, but also fly with a paraglider.
And in the east, a few clever guys started building their own kites because they lacked materials. Specifically, they made them out of an old aluminum frame from a Soviet military bed.
And they used sacks that they covered with tension lacquer. And
was came out of that, did it really fly?
Oh yeah, there are even pictures of the story. Have you
have you ever seen you fly? I mean, that prehistoric Cuban dragon? No, that was
before my time. I mean, I only got into it almost a decade later. That was back in '96 to '98 when it all started. And I had already been to Cuba, but that was a long time ago. And I had no idea about flying back then. Or that I could ever get into it. How many paraglider pilots
are there today in Cuba?
So, officially registered with a license, there are about 150. However, there are significantly more; I'd say about a quarter are still in training or haven't finished yet and don't have their license in hand.
So you're saying there are about 150 pilots who have a license and are registered. Then you said earlier that you brought about 300 gliders into the country. That basically means every Cuban who flies there is flying with a glider of yours. No,
You can't really say that. I mean, there were a lot of oldtimers involved. Gliders that would have been better suited as display pieces. They'd be better off in a museum than in Cuba. But even in Cuba, they used them as material. Everything is used to the maximum there to get the best possible benefit out of it. And the gliders were also used for ground training. And of course, over time, the material wore down and was used up. You have to imagine it that way. A used paraglider doesn't have the same life expectancy as you might be used to.
If you buy a new paraglider, you can assume that it will last four to six years.
Before you say, well, I'll see if I can somehow dispose of it in some way.
And that is, of course, the point where the paraglider ended up in my hands. So, no new gliders are arriving. And from then on, the glider has a relatively short life left only in Cuba. It's tropical conditions, which means a completely different climate. It puts the material under different stress. In coastal regions, the salty air also eats away at the material faster. And because of that, you can say there's a completely different level of wear and tear. If
When you hear that, like, high wear and tear and stuff like that, does every pilot in Cuba have that? Do they have their own glider? Or is it also the case that they say, no, we organize ourselves as clubs and then we share the gliders more?
Yeah, there's no other way to do it. There's more demand than material. That's crystal clear. But the colleagues, when they're still in the training phase, go up the mountain together. Then one person flies the glider down, carries it back up, then the next one does it and they're allowed to fly down too. And the pilots who are more advanced, of course, they're happy if they have their own gear. Or the really good ones, they'll obviously do a top-notch landing. But the day, it only has a limited time window that they...
that the pilots can use. Are there also paragliders that come into the country as imports? I don't mean from you as a used import that you just bring along. But that it's actually traded? And is something like that affordable for a Cuban at all? A
A Cuban, if he has a lot of money, maybe he earns 40 euros a month. I'm saying euros now so we don't have to do the conversion. But it's more like, it's half that. And to live, depending on the situation, he'd actually need between 60 and 80 euros a month. That means... a glider, even a used glider, there's never money for that. So it's completely out of the question. If you see newer gliders in Cuba, those are also used ones. And they're usually sent by relatives who are back home in the States. But that's more of a, more of a rarity.
Well, maybe that's the case once in a while if he's lucky. The relatives, they also think... they're more likely to think about spending the money on practical things rather than on a paraglider.
So, from that perspective, is the entire paragliding scene in Cuba really built on donations?
Yes, that's right. There are even motors being donated now. That means they're also doing paramotoring. It's really moving forward. And surprisingly, all of it through donations. Somehow
supported. If it's a lot of used material, you could also ask, how safe is it still? Are there more accidents there in Cuba than, for example, with us? Or do they handle the equipment and maintain it in such a way that you could say, actually, they're still safe out there?
Well, there are completely different philosophies there. It's a totally different approach to how the pilots are trained. They are much closer to one another, and there isn't that kind of expectation like, I have to do 10 or 20 flights in this and my vacation is ending. I have to get this over with now. In Cuba, the folks take it very relaxed. They're usually also quite good friends with each other. And the training happens on a different level there. Suddenly, there's a completely different basis.
They're already quite good on the ground, they can do ground handling. They also take off well. They fly cautiously at first. And then, as far as self-confidence and the flight instructor's trust go, they move on to further flights. So, regarding accidents—I don't know. Of course, accidents happen, but you can't really compare them. I think we have a base of 30,000, 35,000 pilots. I don't know how many of them are active here in Germany. And statistically, you get a completely different value in the end. But I'd say it's relatively safe because the whole thing operates under different parameters.
Now you're saying they can also fly further and stuff like that. That means, from what I'm hearing, you can do cross-country flights in Cuba, you could do that there. And sometimes with islands, that's not always that easy. Just describe the topography of the island a bit. Where can I actually go flying there? Where do I find the best flight areas and so on? Okay, so on
Of course, Cuba offers wonderful opportunities for cross-country flying.
The limits lie more in the permission, in the fact that airspace clearances have to be obtained.
The individual clubs that organize this have a contact at the respective air traffic control authorities. It could be a military airfield or a civil airport. They call them if necessary and get authorization.
Otherwise, if there are restrictions, it means okay, you can only fly locally, so not out of the valley. Or there's a general takeoff ban. But as a rule, that's only imposed if there was, and this does happen, an airspace violation. For example, if it was observed that paragliding was done near the civil airports, like getting too close.
What's the basic flying—or flight character—like there? Is it mainly flown and soared along the coast? Or are there actually mountains in Cuba or on Cuba? Where you could say you can really take off with larger altitude differences and then maybe find some good thermals with that. So, Cuba is quite varied in that regard.
We have everything on Cuba that you'd know in Europe. If you start in the west, in Pena del Rio, that's a mountainous zone. I'd say it's like the Palmgau. It looks a bit like the Allgäu but with palms. It's quite nice for flying, it's mountainous and beautiful with those classic views of the valleys where the mogotes are. Those are these limestone stumps left over from prehistoric times when everything was still underwater. A dreamlike panorama, of course. If you head further east from there, you can fly along the beach. That's the coastal soaring.
There's a stretch there that's suitable for shorter distances, 20 to 25 kilometers right along and over the sea. And from there, looking further east towards Santa Clara, that's basically the middle of the island, the center. There's a single hill right in the middle of the flatlands that's also very popular, where flights of up to 100 kilometers have been possible. Then further east we get to Cienfuegos. In the north, there's also a very beautiful flying area. Below the Cayos, which are these sandbanks that are also wonderful for diving.
The east of the island is sort of the Mecca. That's where you have the Sierra Maestra, which is the largest continuous mountain range, and the Gran Piedra. With
By Mecca, do you mean that's where the most flying actually happens, or that's where you find the best flying conditions and the most flying sites?
Exactly. The area around Sierra Maestra has the highest population density when it comes to paragliders. That's partly because, among other things, the first paragliders were there. So it has a history; it's historically determined. And because of the good, excellent conditions, there are also the most clubs and the most pilots there. The association of pilots, the Cuban DHV, is called FCVL, Federación Cubana de Vuelo Libre. They are now also planning, in cooperation with the Cuban Aeroclub, to create opportunities in the future in Las Tunas and Camagüey, which is actually flatland, possibly to do winch flying.
But we still have to see how the solution can be implemented technically.
So, next you have to bring the Kubaners a winch?
No, definitely not. They do it very cleverly. They pull an axle out a bit in front of a car and then basically put a wheel on it, without tires, without rubber. And the rope runs over this wheel. It's basically an improvised
winch. That's typical Cuban ingenuity. Out of poverty, you can still build all sorts of things. If I go to the island as a tourist now and say I want to go paragliding, is that actually that simple? Or do I have to observe some specific requirements first just to be able to take my paraglider onto the land or the island?
Principally, there aren't any major requirements. It's recommended that you get travel insurance, like from ADAC. This isn't supposed to be a hidden ad. It's just about what happens if something goes wrong. ADAC is one of the few insurers that cover you abroad and will actually bring you home. I think it's an important point that there isn't a lot of bureaucracy behind it, but that you can actually rely on it—that the insurer will do it. The insurance, the costs... maybe 20 euros a year, even for non-members.
Otherwise, regarding papers, I'd take the standard IP card. That will definitely be recognized in Cuba as well.
But that means if I show up at the airport with such a big paraglider bag, the first official I meet won't say, "Oh, what's that? You have to pay a 100 dollar fee first to bring this big bag into the country." No,
no, no, there won't be any problems. You might just have to explain yourself under certain circumstances and say, this is for flying.
I'd be more cautious if you're carrying a device that says GPS on it. Officially, you're not allowed to have a GPS with you. You'll have to explain that to the authorities if they ask, and say it's not a GPS, but an altimeter.
But it's probably worth it to know a bit of Spanish anyway, just so you can communicate at all, or do you somehow manage to get by with English?
Oh, well, I have to say, I can speak some Spanish, getting a bit better every day, a bit more with every visit. But I've also gotten by quite well with English. There's at least one person in every club who can speak English. And that's good. That's also the general recommendation—that you don't just go to the mountain as a visitor and say, okay, I'm going to jump off now, but rather that you get in touch with the people there. Well, maybe you can just plan out a tour. I want to see the region. And then you pick out the contacts who might be able to serve as your points of contact there.
and then you go to the mountain with them and fly.
That works. But how do I get these contacts? I mean, if I'm in Cuba, how do I find a Cuban pilot?
Theoretically, it would normally be possible to do a bit of research through sites like Paragliding Earth. Of course, you can also look at tracks on XContest or DHV or Leonardo. But the pilots don't always have their profiles. Profiles that are well-maintained and have a phone number, or an email, or any contact information provided at all. There's a site online where I try to blog about the actions that are currently taking place. You can also find contacts there, and it also lists the approximate province and location. Usually, there's a phone number and a club name.
And a
to find emails. You keep mentioning phone, mobile, email. Are Cubans equipped with these things nowadays to the point where you can reach them relatively easily? Or do they only check their emails once a week, and then you're stuck?
Email can take a bit longer. That's true. But fortunately, for the last year or two, mobile coverage has been becoming more widespread. So it takes a bit longer. That's right. But fortunately, for the last year or two, mobile coverage has been becoming more widespread. So there are hardly any dead zones in Cuba anymore. Wi-Fi, hotspots—public Wi-Fi—any tourist can use those too. You just have to buy a card for that. It apparently costs 1.50 euros an hour and you can log in there. For holders of Cuban cards, it's also possible to buy data packages. Those are always valid for 30 days and start at 7 dollars.
Which is, of course, a huge price for someone who only has 40 dollars a month. Yes, if those 600 MB are used up, then you can, of course, buy more directly. Otherwise, the 600 MB would be valid for 30 days. And because of that, yes, many people then have their phones without a balance. That means they don't have any credit on them, but they are still reachable. Therefore, email—if you write it in time, not two weeks before you go on the trip, but maybe a month or two before—works just fine.
Let's run through this a bit mentally. Let's say I'm planning a trip to Cuba now and I say, okay, you mentioned that the Mecca—the flying Mecca of Cuba—is in the southeast, around Santiago, the Sierra Maestra. Maybe I want to go flying there. If I want to get there, where is the best place to fly to? What would be the nearest flight destination to get to that area, in terms of the journey there?
Okay, Cuba has several international airports. From Germany, as far as I know, they serve Havana. But if you want to go to the east to go fly, the most interesting one is to fly into Holguin airport. From there, you're in the Sierra Maestra in less than an hour and can look for accommodation nearby, and from there you can also go fly to Santiago or somewhere else. So you can do a little tour around the Sierra Maestra, and ideally, for the northern Sierra Maestra, I'd look for a place to stay in Higuaní and then also spend a few days flying in Santiago.
Driving along the south coast is wonderful.
Now I need accommodation too. How do I find that? Do I have to book everything in advance from Germany, or can I just drive around and say, in every village, I'll somehow find somewhere I can stay as a tourist?
You can be very spontaneous and flexible in Cuba. That's not really a problem at all. Nowadays, people are used to planning everything out and doing research online. You'd have a hard time doing that in Cuba. But I wouldn't worry about it, because once you've arrived in Cuba, accommodations cost between 15 and 30 dollars a night and there are plenty of them. It gets harder, of course, if you go into the mountains. But a solution can still be found there too. Cubans are helpful, even if you can't assume that you're officially allowed to stay with them.
That's strictly forbidden. The Cubans would only get into trouble. But at the very least, everyone will be trying to find a solution. And a solution will be found. So, one that is officially compliant with the laws...
is compatible with. And what about transport? How do you get to the launch site? There probably won't be a mountain railway or something. Do I find buses everywhere? Or are the roads so empty that I have to wait an hour every time until something gets through? To get around in Cuba,
there are different options. Of course, clearly, you can rent a car. But I would only ever fill the car so much that there's still enough room for luggage and one person from the club, for those who like to fly in style. I would also recommend renting a small car, like a Fiat Picanto or something. Because they're actually ideal for the bad roads. They don't weigh much, they have low fuel consumption, and they're little speedsters that really seem to be the best fit. You should request and reserve rental cars at least three to four months in advance.
Otherwise, it's going to be difficult.
So, sponsors arriving there and booking a rental car, that's not possible. Hehehe. Unfortunately not anymore. Or only with a lot of money, probably.
Yes, that's also possible. But it's not really about having a lot of money. In Cuba, money... things aren't necessarily easier to get with money. If something isn't there, it's not there, even for a lot of money. But I'll say this, the necessity for a rental car in Cuba
No. So you mean you can really get by without one, that you can always get around the whole country using other means of transport.
I think the key is to team up with the colleagues on site. They know how it works. For long distances, like over 50 kilometers, there are buses that work quite well, running several times a day, also at a reasonable price. I think for about 100, 120 kilometers, it costs about five euros. That's not a huge amount of money to spend. They also have space for large pieces of luggage. And in the local area, there are also buses or trucks converted into buses. And there's always space. If it's now about something spontaneous with a small group or something else
to go to a flight area that isn't necessarily reachable on foot, you can always rent a car. And then you can get there for 15, 20, maybe even 30 euros. That's still cheaper than a rental car. And you can always do that if you need it spontaneously. So it might also be interesting if you team up with other people. Then you can, of course, split the costs.
You just said there are buses and trucks. What am I supposed to imagine when you say trucks? Do I sit in the back on the flatbed with my bag and get hauled around?
No. It's not that bad. The trucks are converted. They usually have a bar welded on, a rectangular one that you sit on. It's like a bench. It goes all the way across the length of the vehicle on both sides. And there are rows of two. So, a row of two on the left and one on the right. You sit there under a tarp in the truck. And in the middle, there are also people standing who...
stopping like in the U-Bahn. Are those like the single-decker buses that then drive the shorter routes?
Exactly. For distances between, let's say, 2 and 25 kilometers, that's generally the case.
The preferred mode of transport. So, if I take all that into account—I've made friends with Cuban pilots, I've gone to a launch site somewhere in the Sierra Maestra with them, and I launch from there to go flying—is there anything specific that needs to be considered regarding the weather or climate in Cuba, something you should have looked into beforehand?
Well, Cuba has a predominant wind direction. That's the northeast trade wind. The wind mostly comes from the northeast. Along the coast, it's of course overlaid by the sea breeze. Depending on the strength of the sea breeze, that's up to 50, even up to 80 kilometers inland. But normally, it dies down earlier. And that's the main meteorological story you have to keep in mind there. In the summer, starting in May, it begins to build up relatively quickly. That means by 2 or 3 o'clock, you have these thick clouds that eventually have to rain out in a heavy thunderstorm, so in the summer it's actually better to go flying early and finish the whole thing by that time, because you don't necessarily want to get wet or even get caught in a cloud at the end.
That means the better travel time would be our winter. That's probably the dry season in Cuba itself. In that sense, there is
no real dry season. So a very good time is when the hurricanes have died down, which is usually the case from early November. Then from November to April, you generally have very good conditions for flying. In January, the wind can still get quite strong. But that's not really set in stone like in a book. Generally, if you arrive there between November and April and take two or three weeks, you'll...
flyable. If I were to actually go flying now and say, I'm going to fly cross-country there. You'd probably do that too. How much should I fear—especially because it's in Cuba or something—that I'll sink somewhere, because I'm always thinking, yeah, how am I going to manage this with the existing but perhaps somewhat precarious transport situation, where I first have to figure out which truck I'm allowed to hop on? Is it going in the right direction or something? How can I navigate that? Or would you not recommend flying really long distances there at all, because it might become a bit too complicated?
So I'd go into it without any fear. If you have the ambition to fly long distances, you can certainly do that in Cuba. You have to consider that Cuba is a historically developed cultural landscape. That means there's farmland, livestock land, and pasture everywhere. Because of that, there's always a certain infrastructure you can orient yourself by. And you don't just sink from one moment to the next. You have time to look around beforehand. And if it actually looks like the flight is going to end, there are plenty of possibilities to land near some infrastructure.
in the form of roads, settlements, etc. And the Cubans are, as I said, very, very helpful. I can give a little story about that. Unfortunately, I also crashed there and basically had to land in the middle of the jungle, so I picked out a piece of pasture to land on. And after I packed up, it didn't take five minutes. Two colleagues already showed up with a large sombrero and horses and asked me what I was doing. After I explained it and said that I was a bit lost, they immediately put my pack on their horse. Then we walked out together for half an hour and they kindly organized for a cousin to drive me to the next major road in his car.
And from there, I could take a bus to the next larger town. They are an amazingly friendly people and are always helpful and open toward strangers. So it's really true that you're not alone there.
What kind of routes have you flown there? Like, is there one where you'd say, "That was my longest flight in Cuba, I'm especially proud of that"? And where did you fly to?
Well, my private flights in Cuba, of course, aren't comparable to the routes the record holders here are pulling off. But they're still flights that make you really happy every now and then. My best was I think around 50 kilometers, and I'm very proud of that; it was a beautiful thing. The records in Cuba are currently at a bit over 100 kilometers. They've also been uploaded to the individual servers in some way, so you can trace where they were and where they went. Yes, the new generation of pilots, or also the older, experienced ones, are showing us what's possible now that cell phones have become a bit more popular, because they can finally record it.
Now in December, there's another paraglider festival taking place in Cuba, the Encuentro Amistoso, which means a friendship meeting. What do you have to do with that?
Encuentro Amistoso was actually started with the idea that the pilots, who are spread out all over the island, could just get together and have an exchange. So, an exchange of experiences, a meeting with friends, there's a celebration, and of course, more and more foreigners join every year, so it's also gained an international touch now.
How large is the international participation? When you say there are always...
more. There are
150 pilots from Cuba, though probably not all of them will come, but maybe some of them. How many guests from outside will be there then?
Since I'm not at every Encuentro Amistoso, I can only speak to what I've experienced. And the largest group that was there was 17 people. They were French, Canadian, German, Austrian, and Swiss. For them, it's... it's always been very popular to go to Cuba as well.
And there were also several people at the Encuentro Amistoso each time.
Is that also something you'd say is a good reason? You could easily say that if you're going to Cuba, it's best to plan your travel time so that you can participate in an Encuentro Amistoso, because that's how you get direct contact with all the Cuban pilots.
Yeah, exactly, that's actually the ideal opportunity to get into conversation with people and get to know each other. That's why it's also great if you're coming to the country for the first time. Or even if you've been there several times, maybe as a starting point to then travel further with some of the pilots who are coming from a different area.
When you travel there now, you've yourself taken so many paragliders with you over the years, as you say. Would you also recommend that everyone who flies over there should ideally look to see if they can find some used gear somewhere to take along? Are you particularly well-received then, or how does that look?
No, no one will be upset if you don't leave any gear behind. In the past, I've mostly done it by recommending that if you have the chance, maybe fly some equipment from a friend who doesn't need it anymore and who can give it to you, and then just leave it there. That could be a harness or something else. It's just a nice gesture. No one expects anything there. But if it naturally works out that you can leave something behind because you organized it beforehand or thought of something, then of course that's great and a lovely thing.
Is there some kind of tip for that, like who is best to hand it over to? Do you give it to the club president or do you give it to someone who's just standing there? I mean, how can you distribute it somewhat fairly at all? How did you do it with the distribution of all the gliders you brought along?
My idea back then was that there are so many people who need something essential. I can't do it all myself, and if you give something to one person, the other might feel offended. So I did it like this: during the friendship meetings, our Encuentro a Mistoso, I always said, okay guys, we're going to do it this way—we'll have a small competition and the awarding will be based on the donations. And whoever has the most points gets to grab first on behalf of the club. That means we found a nice way to get the gear to the right people.
That way, the winner could also get first access to whatever was needed. I was quite surprised because, for example, they didn't go for a paraglider, but for a rescue system, because that was simply missing for the club. In the end, it worked out very well. So, if you have 50 prizes and there were 12 spots, or 12 participants, or 24, exactly. There were always two per province, two pilots who took part in the competition. And then every pilot who flew could secure two prizes for their club out of 50 items. And that was an incredible success, and everyone was very happy that they won some nice things for their club in the competition.
Do you still do that? Like, do you still collect used equipment? Can people still reach out to you and say, Chris, can you take my gear with you too? Or is that over now? Do you only go to Cuba for your own enjoyment these days?
Of course I take things with me to Cuba if I get any. How could I not give my colleagues—whom I now know almost all personally—the opportunity, so to speak, to have more material come in? As I said, the equipment ages. It doesn't get better. And because of that, it won't theoretically always be more. Instead, practically speaking, it's always less. And because of that, we naturally have to make sure there's a supply. And I do that as best I can. Every time I fly there, I take along whatever I can. So, feel free to send it to my address.
If you go yourselves, of course it's nice if you could take the gear with you as well.
With everything you've actually done for the Cuban paragliding world, are you something like that now? Like an honorary member of the Cuban aviation association?
Yes, I'm actually an honorary member now.
But that was actually just a mere formality. It was never about some honor or anything like that for me. I know the colleagues, the colleagues know me. And being honored officially is actually kind of embarrassing for me. I'm happy when it's more about the results, when things are moving forward, and when you have the practical result of people being able to be in the air with decent materials. There isn't a flight area named after you, either. No, no, but there is a flight area named after a pioneer who built that first kite. What's his name?
Leandro Martinez.
I asked that because I... have also done a podcast with Kerim Jaspersen, who comes from El Salvador and basically helped oversee the beginnings of paragliding there. And there really is a paraglider launch site there. He owns it himself, though; he eventually even bought the terrain. And he told me that this launch site is now called Loma de Kerim. So it really is a launch site named after him. So maybe in a few years there will be something like that called Loma de Kerim. Loma de Cris, in your case.
Good heavens, God forbid. That would be embarrassing.
I'll just leave that as an outlook for now. Maybe in a few years, as a result of this podcast, more people from Germany might travel to Cuba. Maybe there will eventually be a launch site where people know, "This is Cris's launch site." And then they'll know it's the launch site of the person who at least helped a lot to push the paraglider scene in Cuba forward. Thank you for your story, and I hope that a lot more will come of it.
Yeah, well, I was happy to do it and I hope I was able to provide some information. Otherwise, of course, I'm always reachable and available via email, and also gladly
by phone. Yes, I'll then write the relevant details on the Lu-Glidz website under the corresponding posts where it's mentioned. You can look it up there.
That was Cris Arnou in conversation with Lucian Haas. If you want to know more about the Cuba aid started by Cris, maybe even want to donate your own equipment for it, or would simply like to travel to Cuba for a flight yourself, then read the show notes for this podcast episode. You can find them on my blog Lu-Glidz or on Soundcloud. I've put together a series of links along with contact details there.
And if you enjoyed this episode of Podz-Glidz, please recommend the podcast to other pilots. I also invite you to become a supporter of Podz-Glidz and Lu-Glidz. As a freelance journalist, I can only offer the podcast and blog in this extensive form if my listeners and readers also support it financially. You can choose your contribution amount completely freely, though I recommend a guideline of 1 Euro per podcast episode and 2 Euros per reading month on Lu-Glidz. Payments are very simple via PayPal or bank transfer. You can find the relevant details on the Lu-Glidz website. I thank everyone who joins in for the support. See you next time. Ciao.